How to Be Successful at Naval Combat in Assassin’s Creed Odyssey

Assassin’s Creed Odyssey builds on the naval combat seen in Assassin’s Creed Origins and makes it a much larger part of the game.

It’s very different to the classic seafaring combat in Black Flag though, and requires a slightly different skillset.

Here’s our tips for how to be successful in Assassin’s Creed Odyssey’s naval combat.

Ram Ram!

The best way to cause huge amounts of damage in Assassin’s Creed Odyssey is to ram the enemy ship. Ensure you get a good build up as your ship needs the chance to build up speed. Make sure you’re not too far away however, as you can lose your boost before hitting the target.

Hold down X or A (depending on your console) and push the analogue stick forward and you’ll boost your ship for a short period of time. The blue meter just above the ship’s damage bar indicates how much boost is left. This will rejuvenate fairly quickly so don’t worry about using it all for a great ram.

After the initial hit, you can choose to angle the ship to fire arrows or javelins at the enemy. If you successfully rammed the opponent using boost then lower level ships may already be showing a weak point: indicated by a slight colour change in the ship’s hull. Target this area.

Arrows and javelins won’t do as much damage as a great ram, though. Try to get far enough away from your enemy so that you can ram them again. Aim for their weak point. If there’s no weak point shown yet then aggressively ram into the side of the enemy ship until it is shown. A well placed ram into the enemy ship can completely destroy the ship.

Loot lower level ships quickly

Assassin’s Creed Odyssey allows you to go into travel speed when sailing. This is a great way to cover large distances quickly. It’s also an efficient way to smash into lower level ships and destroy them straight away. Don’t forget to loot the ship as it sinks so that you get the resources.

Take on two at a time

Taking on more than one enemy ship at a time can be deadly in Assassin’s Creed Odyssey. If you’re in a situation where more than one enemy ship is attacking you then only focus on one. There’s no point in trying to damage each ship when all of them will still attack you and deal damage.

Focus on one ship, but don’t destroy it: board it. Boarding a ship stops the enemy ships attacking, and they wait patiently for you to kill all the enemies on their ally’s sinking ship. Once you’ve beaten all the enemies on that ship then your own vessel will be repaired, meaning you can get back to the fight with full health.

Upgrade

Upgrades are vital in order to take on the higher level enemies. Always prioritise the hull defence. Later in the game you’ll be forced to take on more than one ship at a time so you need to be able to absorb more damage. Then upgrade the ramming power next.

Upgrading these two parts to the ship will allow you to deal a great amount of damage in a ram, and then retreat far enough away to ram again without worrying too much about enemy fire.

Follow these steps and Kassandra/Alexios will soon be as comfortable at sea as Edward Kenway was.